In January we looked at the UBACS shirt issued in Op Force camouflage. This camouflage pattern, in shades of blue and grey, is issued to British troops portraying the enemy on exercise. A limited range of clothing was produced in very small numbers in the pattern. As well as the UBACS we have already looked at, there is a smock, cap, helmet cover, trousers (which we will look at next month) and a combat shirt that is the subject of today’s post:

The shirt follows the standard pattern of the MTP shirt, but in the new camouflage. The front of the shirt has a single rank slide in the centre and a pair of zipped vertical pockets on either breast:

The collar is normally worn open, with a t-shirt underneath. However as body armour is now routinely worn, the collar can be turned up and secured with a Velcro tab so that it is not rubbing underneath the armour and it provides some protection to the neck:

A large pair of angled pockets are sewn to each sleeve and as the soldiers are British, even if they are portraying the opposition, a small union flag is sewn onto the Velcro patch on each pocket:

A small Velcro tab on each cuff allows the sleeve to be drawn in if required, the angled tab allowing this to be done even when wearing gloves:

A label on the inside of the shirt shows that it is a combat jacket and in blue camouflage:

The uniform was introduced about 2015 and has seen very limited used. Very little of it has appeared on the collector’s market, last years batch being the only sizeable quantities released so far which makes it probably one of the rarest patterns of modern British uniform out there at the moment.  Back in 2015 the 1^st Princess of Wales Royal Regiment ran the following story on their Facebook page:

Soldiers from A Company and the Anti Tank Platoon 1 PWRR recently deployed to the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Alberta Canada. They are working with the QRH Battlegroup and a company from the RDG to provide support to the Royal Tank Regiment

The soldiers are deployed as part of the Opposing Force or OPFOR. Their role is to provide a challenging and determined enemy for the RTR to fight. They are currently 3 weeks into a 4 month deployment…

The OPFOR Battlegroup has taken on the role of the Army of the NDF- Northern Democratic Republic. This fictitious fighting force are dressed in rather dashing blue ‘Enemy’ uniforms!